November 9 monthly meeting

The Shutterbugs will meet at their regularly scheduled time at 6:30 on November 9 at TUAC in Thomaston. Doug Peck will present the program. Reminder, we do not have a meeting scheduled for December, so enjoy the time with your families!

2010 North Georgia Shootout Report

Five members of the West Central Georgia Shutterbugs participated in the 2010 North Georgia Shootout, held on Saturday, October 23rd, at Berry College in Rome, GA. Since the five Shutterbugs (Bonny Shockley, Dianne Kelly, Francis Hauke, Johnnie Ann Gaskill and Linda Godwin) are also members of Georgia Nature Photographers Association (GNPA), they opted to participate on the GNPA team, along with 16 other GNPA members. The weather cooperated and they all had a beautiful day for photographing on the very picturesque 30,000-acre campus. Eleven other photography clubs participated in the shootout.

Before 8 a.m. that morning, five random topics were chosen: Up Close (Nature); Geometry (Square & Rectangles); Still Water; Man Made (What's the Point?) and Silhouettes. Once the topics were announced, each of the 12 photography clubs divided its participants into teams and gave each of them one topic to photograph. Then the 250+ photographers grabbed their cameras and other equipment and headed off in search of images that would fit their assignment. In less than six hours, they had to take their photographs, select their 10 personal best images, meet with other members of their team to choose the 10 images the team would submit to the judges, edit those images, copy them to a flash drive, and deliver it to the judges no later than the 2 p.m. deadline. That was lots of pressure, but lots of fun, too!

Each club could enter 50 images (10 per topic) in the final competition. Out of the 600 images submitted for final judging, five GNPA images placed in the Top 10. Three of those five were taken by Shutterbugs: Linda Godwin (4th Place in Up Close Nature), Bonny Shockley (4th Place in Silhouettes), and Johnnie Gaskill (6th Place in Man-Made; What's the Point?).

Congratulations!! Although, as a club, GNPA didn't bring home any medals or win First, Second or Third Place, some members walked away with great door prizes. They are looking forward to the 2011 shootout and will, in the meantime, encourage other photographers to participate.

Photos by Johnnie Ann Gaskill

Congratulations!

United Bank is preparing the 2011 calendar which should be available probably in November. Four WCG Shutterbugs will have photos featured in the new calendar! They are Alicia Pastiran, Bonny Shockley, Dianne Kelly and Melba Brown.



Carol Peck, Marcia Fisher, Bridget Bolcik and Dianne Kelly visited the Georgia National Fair today along with other friends. 15 pictures by Shutterbugs were noted as having won ribbons.

Advanced Action - 3rd - Marcia Fisher - You Had Better Duck
Advanced Creative - 5th - Alicia Pastiran - Bull Riders Dream
Advanced I Spy - Green - 3rd - Melba Brown - Tree Frog
Advanced Scenic - 6th - Alicia Pastiran - Lake Macdonald
Advanced Street Scenes - 4th - Marcia Fisher - Ritz Theatre, Thomaston

Beginner Action - 5th - Lora Watson - Splash Time
Beginner Action - 6th - Linda Godwin - Territorial Dispute
Beginner Animals - 6th - Linda Godwin - The Kiss
Beginner Creative - 1st - Lora Watson - Make My Brown Eyes Blue
Beginner I Spy - Green - 5th - Dianne Kelly - What's Up
Beginner Plant Life - 2nd - Lora Watson
Beginner Scenic - 1st - Lora Watson - On Mystic Lake
Beginner Scenic - 6th - Linda Godwin - Geometrics at Sunset
Beginner Still Life - 4th - Gordon Brown - Bike in Bienza
Beginner Street Scenes - 2nd - Dianne Kelly - Leaded Rust


Please, if I missed anyone, let me know and I will update this post! Congratulations everyone on a job well done!

Congratulations

Images by three Shutterbugs (Linda Best, Malgorzata Florkowska, and Ellen Tew) were among the 78 photos that were selected for the 2010 SlowExposures Show. The jurors selected these from among 668 photos that were submitted.

Lora Watson received a second place ribbon and $100 in cash for one of her entries into a contest sponsored by the Paulding County Camera Club. This was Lora's first time to enter a contest!!!

One of Johnnie Ann Gaskill's photos of the Upson County Courthouse was featured on the 2010 Taste of Thomaston tee-shirts. The same photo was also used on small banners that were placed around the square during May.

Ellen Tew's photo at Ten Mile Creek was featured on the cover of 2010 Discovering Upson County, put out by the Thomaston-Upson County Chamber of Commerce and The Upson Beacon. This supplement features Thomaston, Yatesville and The Rock.

Dianne Kelly had a photo in the New York Times in May when she responded to a call for photos taken around the world at A Moment in Time. Photos were to be taken at exactly 1500 UTC and quite a variety of subjects is depicted in these photos. The link to her photo: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/05/03/blogs/a-moment-in-time.html/#/4bdec02cb93af13e4c0001d7

Better Photo Finalists - August 2010

Anna Mary Ellerbee, Jimmy Day and Johnnie Ann Gaskill had at least one image chosen as a Finalist on http://www.betterphoto.com/ during the month of August. According to a congratulations letter received from Better Photo, over 19,100 photos were entered into the monthly competition, and out of those judges chose 1,822 as Finalist. (From that group, Winners are chosen each month). For more information about the contest that Better Photo members can participate in (for free), please click here: http://www.betterphoto.com/contest.asp.
That page also has a link that leads to information about how to join Better Photo.

WCG Shutterbugs Elect New Officers

During their annual business meeting, held on August 10th, members of the West Central Georgia Shutterbugs elected officers to serve during their upcoming year. They were (left to right): Dianne Kelly (Publicity), Linda Godwin (Activities Coordinator, who will share that position with Margie Lentini, who was not present for the photo), Anna Mary Ellerbee (Corresponding Secretary), Yvette Tolson (Recording Secretary), Bonny Shockley (Treasurer) and Francis Hauk (President). King Davis was re-elected to a second term as Vice-President but was unable to attend the meeting. The officers will stay quite busy since the Shutterbugs (currently 60 of them) are a very active group. For example, many are planning to enter the annual photography competition at the Georgia National Fair, as well as submitting images for their month-long annual exhibit at the Thomaston-Upson Arts Council (TUAC) Gallery and Gift Shop, where the meetings are held on the second Tuesday in each month, beginning at 6:30 p.m. In lieu of the regular meeting on Sept. 14th, a reception will be held at the Gallery from 6-8 p.m. The public is cordially invited to meet the photographers and view their images. Photo by Shutterbugs member, Sherry Kunde.

The WCG Shutterbugs Visit the GNPA

Five Shutterbugs attended the August 19, 2010, meeting of the Georgia Nature Photographers' Association (held in Marietta) and greatly enjoyed the program presented by guest speaker Adam Jones and were thrilled to get to speak with him after his presentation. Shown in the photo are Francis Hauke, Margie Lentini, Adam Jones, Johnnie Ann Gaskill, Marcia Fisher, and Linda Godwin. Photo by Todd Sparger, Vice-President of GNPA.

Adam is an international travel, nature, and wildlife photographer who conducts tours and workshops around the world. To see samples of his beautiful images and to learn more about the training opportunities he offers, please visit his website: http://adamjonesphoto.com/

He is also one of Canon's "Explorers of Light," a group of the world's leading professional photographers selected to provide insight,inspiration and education to future generations of creative photographers. This prestigious panel of 60 or more Canon photographers delivers seminars, workshops, gallery showings and photo presentations at a variety of professional association and amateur photo groups and colleges across the country as a means of fostering imaging excellence and nurturing the increasingly digital art's next wave. Members represent specialties and styles that span the gamut of photographic expression within the imaging profession. To view a list of members and samples of their work, visit
http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=ArtistsListAct

Recent Shutterbug Achievements & Activities

• Dianne Culpepper Kelly attended Grandfather Mountain 2010 Nature Photography Weekend and received an honorable mention for the photo above.
• Images by three Shutterbugs (Linda Best, Malgorzata Florkowska, and Ellen Tew) are among the 78 photos that were selected for the 2010 SlowExposures Show. The jurors selected these from among 668 photos that were submitted.
• Lora Watson received a second place ribbon and $100 in cash for one of her entries into a contest sponsored by the Paulding County Camera Club. This was Lora’s first time to enter a contest!!!
• One of Johnnie Ann Gaskill’s photos of the Upson County Courthouse was featured on the 2010 Taste of Thomaston tee-shirts. The same photo was also used on small banners that were placed around the square during May.
• On July 24, Dianne Culpepper Kelly, Alicia Pastiran, and John Yoder participated in the Worldwide Photowalk at Senoia.
  

Shutterbugs to Meet on July 13th

The West Central Georgia Shutterbugs will meet on Tuesday, July 13th at 6:30 p.m. at the Thomaston-Upson Arts Council (TUAC) Gallery and Gift Shop, located on the courthouse square, next to the Ritz Theatre. The program will be a viewing and critiquing of images taken recently by members, including images taken during club-sponsored photo shoots in April and June. During the April event, held at a private garden in Griffin, King Davis and Marcia Edwards practiced taking portraits of a lovely model Marcia had invited, while other members were busy snapping pictures of spring flowers, formal gardens, various sculptures, etc. As always, everyone enjoyed getting better acquainted with each other and having time to talk “shop” with fellow photographers.

The Shutterbugs extend a warm welcome to anyone interested in joining the group and/or in attending the July meeting.

Shutterbugs Annual Photo Shoot

In lieu of a regular meeting in April, the Shutterbugs held their annual photo shoot at a private garden in Griffin, GA. The 21 members present had a wonderful time and captured many beautiful images. While King Davis and Marcia Edwards practiced taking portraits of the lovely model Marcia had invited, other members were busy snapping pictures of the spring flowers, the formal gardens, various sculptures, etc. As always, everyone enjoyed getting better acquainted with each other and having time to talk “shop” with fellow photographers.

Shutterbugs Speak to Local Groups

In recent weeks, Harolyn Castleberry (left) and Melba Brown have accepted invitations to speak to local groups about photography. The above photo was taken the evening they spoke to the Yatesville Lion Club. They've also spoken at a meeting of retired teachers in Upson County. When presenting, they explain a bit about the West Central Georgia Shutterbugs and then show some samples of their photography and provide tips for taking better pictures. They, along with another Shutterbugs member, Gordon Brown, also presented a program for the Upson Historical Society.

Shutterbugs to Meet on May 11th

Richard Bernabe will be the guest speaker when the West Central Georgia Shutterbugs meet on Tuesday, May 11th, at 6:30 p.m. at the Thomaston-Upson Arts Council (TUAC) Gallery and Gift Shop, located on the square in Thomaston. Richard is a much-acclaimed outdoor and nature photographer whose images have been published world-wide. Books he’s written, along with the photography workshops he conducts, are extremely popular. Richard will present a program entitled, “30 Images of the Wild: Views From Both Sides of the Lens.” For more information about him, visit his website: www.richardbernabe.com. Shutterbugs are very excited about having such a successful photographer as their guest. They invite anyone interested in learning more about photography to attend the meeting and enjoy Richard’s beautiful images.

Recent Shutterbug Achievements & Activities

Shutterbugs to be Published!

Photo by Brenda Fayard.

Photo by Joan Phillips.

Brenda Fayard and Joan Phillips recently received a wonderful letter from Timothy M. Jacobs, the editor of Patriots of the American Revolution magazine, a bi-monthly publication dedicated to preserving the history of the unknown patriots, early Colonial culture, and the battles that gave us our freedom. He is interested in publishing two photos, one taken by Brenda and one by Joan, taken at the Austin Dabney grave ceremony (in Zebulon) back in January, as found on the North Carolina SAR website, to go along with Carl Voelker's speech which will run in our July/August issue. Congratulations, Brenda and Joan! Aren’t you glad you braved the bitterly cold temperature that day in order to capture the images that have been selected for publication?


Shutterbugs at Callaway Gardens

Harolyn Castleberry and Melba Brown, co-chairpersons for the Shutterbugs’ exhibit at Callaway Gardens, were assisted by Brenda Fayard (a charter member of Shutterbugs) and Andrea Noel in the hanging of the exhibit. The four did a beautiful job. The exhibit opened on Feb. 27th and is scheduled to close on May 2nd. Hundreds of visitors to Callaway have also viewed the exhibit and offered high praise for the images. Several exhibit photos have sold, as have many smaller items that were displayed in the gift shop.

Shutterbugs in "Nature, Undisturbed" in Tyrone, Georgia

Shutterbugs Linda Best and Malgorzata Florkowska attended a reception honoring those photographers whose images were among the 60 chosen (out of 320 submissions) for the "Nature, Undisturbed" photography exhibit at Dogwood Gallery and Framer in Tyrone, GA. The exhibit was open from April 16-25, 2010.

Recent Shutterbug Achievements & Activities

Shutterbugs Attend Photo Expo
Nine members of the West Central Georgia Shutterbugs attended a Photo Expo hosted by the Georgia Nature Photographers' Association (GNPA) at Callaway Gardens, January 30-31. Shown in the photo are: (L-R) Jan Hatten, Anna Mary Ellerbee, Melba Brown; Marcia Fisher, Harolyn Castleberry, Jimmy Day, Dianne Kelly, and Johnnie Ann Gaskill. Bonny Shockley also attended but was not present for the photo. (Photo by Jim Henderson)
Seventy-three registered attendees greatly enjoyed all aspects of the Expo, especially the keynote speakers, Nancy Rotenberg (Pennsylvania) and Rob Sheppard (California), both of whom are professional photographers. The Expo attracted nature photographers from Alabama, South Carolina, and Tennessee, as well as from Georgia.
There were 104 photos entered into a contest that was judged by the two keynote speakers. Five Shutterbugs received awards in one of the four categories (Animals and Insects, Birds, and Nature’s Landscapes, and Macro/Close-up): Marcia Sue Fisher (1st place), Anna Mary Ellerbee (2nd place), Jimmy Day (3rd place), Johnnie Ann Gaskill (Honorable Mention) and Melba Brown (HM).

Shutterbugs Attend Austin Dabney Grave Marking in Zebulon, GA
On Saturday, January 30th, several members of the Shutterbugs attended the grave marking of Austin Dabney, a slave who became a private in the Georgia militia and fought against the British during the Revolutionary War. Pictured above are Shutterbugs with Joe Dooley (third from left), the Genealogist General of the National Society of the SAR Bob Galer of the Georgia Society (white Militia uniform).

Shutterbug Linda Best's Photo Chosen for Exhibit
Linda Best's photo titled "John Muir's Heaven" was selected for the Nature, Undisturbed Photography Exhibit at the Dogwood Gallery and Framer in Tyrone, Georgia. They received 320 entries from 75 photographers in 10 states and chose 60. The exhibit will be on display from April 16th to the 25th.

"Through Our Eyes Exhibit" & Next Meeting

The West Central Georgia Shutterbugs proudly announce the opening of "Through Our Eyes" at the Discovery Center at Callaway Gardens. The photography exhibit features 113 photographs from 33 members of the Shutterbugs. The exhibit is open to the public and can be viewed whenever Callaway Gardens is open. The photographs will be on display until May 2, 2010.

The next meeting of the The West Central Georgia Shutterbugs will be held on March 9, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. at Thomaston-Upson Arts Council (TUAC) Gallery and Gift Shop, located on the courthouse square. Everyone who wants to learn more about photography is invited to attend.

Shutterbugs member, Phyllis Dyche, will present this month's program. During the “Developing An Artistic Eye” presentation, she will discuss color and other principles and elements of art that make up good composition and create marketable images.

Phyllis, a retired teacher, has enjoyed art most of her life. She has experience with several mediums, including acrylic and watercolor painting, and has recently developed a strong interest in photography. Phyllis enjoys photographing her family members, landscapes, and interesting objects. View her photographs on her website at www.dychephotography.com.

Keep updated on all the West Central Georgia Shutterbugs activities on their blog: www. wcgshutterbugs.blogspot.com.

Photo by King Davis.

Shutterbugs to Meet on February 9

The West Central Georgia Shutterbugs will meet at the Thomaston Upson Arts Council Gallery and Gift Shop on February 9, 2010. This month's speaker will be Marti Jeffers, a photographer from Atlanta whose passion for photography matches her passion for teaching photography. Marti has studied the art of photography in various schools including The Showcase School of Photography and the Rocky Mountain School of Photography. Marti continues to study and refine her photography with workshops every year. Everyone with an interest in photography is welcome to attend any of the Shutterbug meetings and become a member for $12 a year.

Callaway Gardens has invited the West Central Georgia Shutterbugs to display their photographs at the Discovery Center from February 27 to April 11, 2010. The public is invited to view the "Through Our Eyes" exhibit whenever Callaway Gardens is open.

Recent Shutterbug Achievements

Dianne Kelly, Harolyn Castleberry, James Day, Linda Best, Marcia Fisher, Sherry Kunde, Suzie Axtell, Anna Mary Ellerbee, & Allen Ellerbee - Photos were juried into A Novel Experience's "Puppy Love" Exhibit. A reception will be held Saturday, Feb. 13, 2010, 6:30-9:00 p.m.

King Davis - Photo on the front page of the January 13, 2010 issue of The Upson Beacon.

Marcia Fisher - Photo printed in The Thomaston Times on January 15, 2010.

Ellen Tew - Photos frequently published in The Thomaston Times and The Upson Beacon, photographer for SlowExposures 2009, received a VIP award during the Downtown Thomaston Business Association’s annual dinner, held on January 21, 2010, received plaque and flowers from The Upson Historical Society for her "creative, tireless work".

Shutterbugs in 2010 United Bank Calendar

Pictured above is Dianne Kelly, Melba Brown, and Anna Mary Ellerbee. United Bank chose their images to be a part of their 2010 calendar.